Make your own fly tying bench and save money

Last weekend I took on a new project. A few weeks ago I enrolled in an advanced fly tying class. The first class I showed up with little more than my vise and a few tools. Every other person in the class had their portable fly tying benches equipped with magnifying glasses/lamps and a myriad of tools and materials. A lesser man would've run out of there intimidated but not me and I'm glad I didn't. Those guys made me feel so welcome. They shared their knowledge, they shared their personal experiences and they shared their skills with me. One thing they said that really hit home...not all the tools in the world can make you a great fly tyer. That has to come from within. But I also saw how convenient those fly tying benches made everything. So, I set out to build one for myself. The reasoning behind my decision to build instead of buy was simple...cost. The benches I saw in magazines and online that I liked started at around $150. I didn't want to pay that so I took pictures of some different ones and designed my own and I'm just tickled with the way it turned out. I went to Lowes and picked up the wood (all oak) all in pre-cut widths so that all I had to do was cut it to length and sand it down. Personally I think it looks better than any bench I had found and the cost was under $50 for everything. If you want further details, please visit the web page where I give the contact information. Here's what it looks like. You can do this to. I know you can.

Tight Lines,

Steve

Fly Tying

Well, it's winter time here in PA so what better way to spend your time indoors than by tying flies. I spent the past two winters taking a beginners fly tying class offered by the Blair County Chapter of Trout Unlimited. This year, the classes have begun again and I have moved up into the advanced fly tying class to try to further my skills.
I was a bit apprehensive about moving up into this class with these advanced fly tyers but I'm so glad I did. These guys are just so helpful and are so willing to share their knowledge and general fly fishing and fly tying experiences. We are currently working on the complete life-cycle of the sulphur.
I have started updating the fly tying section of my website at http://www.hooked-on-flies.com. As I learn more, I will then begin posting all the patterns for dry files, nymphs, streamers, glo bogs, etc. Stop back often to see the changes.

Tight Lines,
Steve

More Erie Steelheading

First of all, let me apologize for neglecting my blog. I've been spending time on another website and this blog has suffered because of it. But let's see if I can turn that around.
This next update deals with another fishing trip to Erie. Back on November 14, 2005, I took my father-in-law and we headed to Erie for some steelhead fishing. I knew it would be tough because the rains had been few and all reports at www.fisherie.com indicated that the streams were low and the fishing was quite challenging. But the weather reports indicated it was going to be around 60 so I couldn't resist. Crowds were sparse and just as expected, the fishing was less than stellar, but driving 3 hours to get there, we were going to make a day of it. We fished Elk Creek the entire day. I used all the "bubble gum" patterns (meaning all the colorful patterns known in steelheading). I did end up hooking a nice one on a glo bug but lost it within about 20 seconds. I switched to the natural patterns and that was the ticket. I hooked and landed a 5 lber on a BH Hares Ear nymph and landed another 6 lber on a BH Black Woolly Bugger. I also hooked about 5 others but was not able to bring them in as I was testing some strategies that just didn't work.
My father-in-law wasn't quite so fortunate. He had no hookups at the first location but on our way out of town, we stopped at another spot and he did finally hook and land a small steelie. So not all was lost and all in all it was just a beautiful day in a beautiful setting.
God certainly has blessed us with some awesome fishing opportunities here in Pennsylvania.

Tight Lines,
Steve